Fracking will lower house prices – survey

Fracking could wipe thousands of pounds off the value of homes in areas where the controversial mining technique is allowed to go ahead.

The first extensive estate agents’ survey in Lancashire, Manchester and Sussex – areas in which energy firms have applied to start extracting shale gas – showed that two thirds of respondents thought house prices would suffer.

The majority of agents thought the loss of value per property could be as much as 10pc, while a handful estimated that prices could fall by up to 70pc.